Anyone have any thoughts on the new and improved hell brought out by the jesuits <sp>. If you haven't heard this ancient group of wisemen now say there is no Hellfire and brimstone. And hell is just a place without God. ------------------ (Midnight@golden.net) (Ouch.my.head) (http://home.golden.net/~midnight/)
Hell, The Abyss, and the lake of Fire are three different things. By they way have you ever had Kinderbier?
Hell is not a place, but a state of being. Hell is brought on by suffering thus it IS... the state of sufferment. In truth, the above statement partially corresponds to the general christian view of hell: That it is, has been, and will always be a "place" where sinners are tortured and burned; put into a state of suffering, for all eternity. Because I do not want to write up a long post of what hell is and what hell isn't, I'm just going to say that I do not share that belief; that hell is only a state of sufferment that can be endured both physically, and mentally. -Dan
I prefer Joyce's version of hell in "Portrait of an Artist ..." to Dante's "Inferno". One thing's for sure, Catholics can imagine the hell out of Hell. Dan Simmons offered a brief but recommendably hilarious vision of Hell in a short story called "Vanni Fucci is Alive and Well and Living in Hell". But I think the recent shift in papal Hell-theory merely demonstrates how religion changes with its flock. Consider the Bishop in the midwestern United States who threatened to excommunicate members of his congregations belonging to political groups like NARAL and NOW. American Catholics pitched a fit. But isn't one of the perks of being Christian that God comes before the U.S. Constitution? Hey, you're Catholic, you know? Them's the breaks. Get a new religion if the one you have doesn't reflect who you are. Well, the flock no longer resembles the Church, and appears no longer willing to come back. The Church can evolve or go the way of the dinosaur. thx, Tiassa ------------------ "Let us not launch the boat until the ground is wet." (Khaavren of Castlerock)
Hmmmm, funny. The christian church up in Canada appears to be stable. I'm probably the only christian in my area (other than Tuskin, who has similar and more convincing views) who actually puts up good debate on this topic. Besides, I shouldn't actually say that - everyone has something to contribtue, even stuck-up Lori over there. -Dan
